In theory, I-73 could one day run due north-south through the state. The road would mostly follow the U.S. 220 corridor, along with the short U.S. 1 corridor south of the town of Rockingham into South Carolina (see State Map). 

I-73 was authorized by the same 1991 Federal bill that laid the foundation for I-74 in North Carolina. I-74's story in N.C. is more interesting than 73's: 74 is longer, it's signed in more places and its number is more controversial. Furthermore, I-73 is more a road for Virginia to play with and South Carolina to complain about than for North Carolina to tout. Still, I-73 has given birth to several future road projects.

Interstate 73 would, in theory, run through the length of Rockingham County along with or near U.S. 220. Much of 220 through the county is already a 4-lane road with grade crossings. However, the state currently lists no plans of any sort, funded or unfunded, to upgrade U.S. 220 to a freeway. Most of I-74, on the other hand, is covered at least by unfunded projects in the 2002-08 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). But all that is listed in Rockingham County for I-73 are an unfunded welcome center near the Virginia border, and a short stretch of a longer project mostly in Guilford County (below). Perhaps the state is instead focusing on nearby I-785/U.S. 29 instead.

N.C. 68 and other existing freeways. In the mid-1990s, a new north-south freeway carrying N.C. 68 was built west of Greensboro. From the north, I-73 would be signed south over this freeway, then east over I-40, then southwest around Greensboro on the upcoming Painter Boulevard beltway. I-40 between Greensboro and W-S is being widened as of early 2001; eventually 40 will be routed on Painter Boulevard along with 73. 

As of early 2001, there were no I-73 signs of any sort posted on N.C. 68 in northern Guilford County, or anywhere on I-40. 

I-73 won't amount to much in the way of new roads for Greensboro, especially compared to what I-74 promises W-S. Don't feel sorry for the Gate City, though; it's getting plenty of other stuff.

History. Much of the 220 freeway predates I-73 by many years. The section around Asheboro, from N.C. 134 to the interchange south of U.S. 311, was completed in the late-1960s (definitely by 1969). By 1973, the freeway was extended north of 311 to the Level Cross exit (Branson Mill Road). 

In the early 1980s (by 1984), 220 was finished all the way north to the junction of I-85 (exit 122). Also by 1984, the southernmost 14 miles of the current 220 freeway were finished. For a while, then, the freeway existed in two disjointed segments, with modern 220A in southern Randolph and northern Montgomery counties in between. In 1996, this missing link was finished. 

North of I-85, the 220 freeway was finished to Freeman Mill Road in 1994 and to I-40 a year later. Before this time, half the cloverleaf with I-85 had sat unused. 

From U.S. 311 south to the town of Rockingham, I-73 follows or will follow I-74. See I-74, parts V and VI for more information, including future projects. 

In late 2000, new FUTURE 73/74 CORRIDOR signs first appeared on U.S. 220 south of where the 220/73/74 freeway currently ends (Image #2). In one place it is clear that the proposed I-73 will cross N.C. 73 (photo at top). Note that any new freeway would probably not be built directly on the existing U.S. 220 right-of-way; the signs were probably put up more to advertise the future Interstates' existence than to announce its acutal alignment.

All of U.S. 1 through Richmond County will be upgraded to a four-lane road as part of a separate project, part of which includes a new bypass of Rockingham to the east. Although this project is funded (22.4 miles, $194 million, construction starting in 2008 at the earliest), only its southernmost section could conceivably carry I-73. The road might not even be built as a freeway. 

In late 2000, FUTURE 73 CORRIDOR signs were posted along the four-lane U.S. 220 into Rockingham, and also along U.S. 1 from Business U.S. 74 south to the new U.S. 74 freeway. Note that there are no plans to upgrade this particular road to a freeway, and if I-73 and I-74 were ever built, they would not be routed over the current U.S. 220 or 1 through Rockingham. Again, the signs were probably put up mostly for show. 

Where U.S. 1 hits the new U.S. 74 freeway, a special sign indicating the end of the future I-73 corridor was posted in late 2000 (Image #4). 

Unresolved is the issue of how I-73 would connect from the Rockingham western bypass to U.S. 1. Regardless of what signs imply, there is no provision, either funded or unfunded, for a direct route. If I-73 were to follow only currently planned freeways, it would loop around Rockingham to the west, but then double back along the future U.S. 1 which will run east of the existing 1 between Rockingham and Hamlet. 

As of the end of 2000, there were no I-73 signs of any sort on U.S. 1 south of the new U.S. 74 freeway.

What exists of I-73 -- the 220 freeway -- is still very much a nascent Interstate. There's not much traffic on it at all, at least compared to other N.C. Interstates, and the exits provide few traveler services outside of the Asheboro area. It's reminiscent of I-40 when that road was first completed all the way to Wilmington. 

Exit numbering and mile-marker posting on I-73, as of early 2001, is sporadic at best. Starting at the south, the first numbered exit is exit 39, with N.C. 24/27. Mileposts first start appearing in this area too. Near Asheboro, exit numbers and mileposts disappear, and don't reappear again heading north until the I-85 interchange. 

The section of I-73 around Level Cross is named in honor of NASCAR driver Richard Petty, a native of the area. Signs denoting this fact are similar in design to the Michael Jordan signs on I-40. 

Some 3di suggestions. When the Greensboro beltway is built, it could be signed as I-273. Similarly, part of the existing I-85, once bypassed, could become I-173. The philosophy is the same as that espoused on in the comments to the I-74 page.